=) News bias Five companies control majority of vA = YQ Canadian media output P7 Be a guitar hero New electic guitar-building course offered in South Vancouver: langaravoice.ca PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS | WWW.LANGARAVOICE.CA FEBRUARY 1 17+ VOL. 48 NO. 31 * VANCOUVER, B.C. Nursing prof runs as MLA Her NDP campaign to focus on health care and education By SHOJI WHITTIER Langara College instructor has announced her intention to run for MLA in Rich- mond North for the provincial elec- tion in May. Lyren Chiu has been a nursing instructor at Langara for three years. While an educator by trade, Chiu is no stranger to politics, having led a coalition against Bill C-51 in 2008. She was approached last August by the NDP to run in the upcoming election. While she was hesitant at first, her students’ faith in her fuelled her determination. “T decided to take the chance,” Chiu said. “It’s kind of interesting, because I inspired my students and then my students inspired me.” Having worked in both education and health care, Chiu said she would like to dedicate more resources to im- proving those fields in B.C. She also said she supports eliminating Medical Services Plan of B.C. premiums, and wants to improve the health care sys- tem to better address mental health issues. Chiu added that she would like to see more funding for the edu- cation sector as a whole, as opposed to focusing on primary, secondary, or post-secondary education. Fellow NDP MLA candidate Amandeep "Aman" Singh, who is running in Richmond-Queensbor- ough, supports Chiu’s aim to increase education funding. “(The BC Lib- erals| haven't funded — educa- tion properly in a decade and a half,” Singh said. “When a govern- ment has been in Lyren Chiu power for so long, it becomes arro- LANGARA NURSING gant and cynical, INSTRUCTOR and we see that through all of the different policies they have.” Sarah Ehinger, one of Chiu’s nurs- ing research students, supports her teacher’s bid for election. “T think she’s really intelligent and she’s personable,” Ehinger said. “She cares about her students and the com- munity [...] I think it’s really great that she’s running.” Chiu has spoken with Langara’s chief advisors, and has secured a leave of absence in the event that she is elected. STUDIO 58 IS IN THE MONEY...............p4 (L to R) Studio 58 students Lisa Baran, Alina Blackett, and Krista Skwarok ' Wheres ” ea ie program's blockbuster musical, 42nd Street. sugiaiTTED PHOTO and dance in the theatre Faculty fights cuts LFA joins campaign against education cuts By CHRISTOPHER THOROSKI he Langara Faculty As- sociation is launching an ad campaign ahead of this May’s provincial election to protest cuts to post-secondary educa- tion funding by the B.C. Liberal gov- ernment. The ads will officially be launched Feb. 21 and will be displayed on buses and at SkyTrain stations in the Greater Vancouver region. “The purpose of the campaign is to alert people to the crisis in our sector, to pressure all political parties to make a restoration of the funds to our sector and to inspire people to vote on May 9,” said LFA treasurer Jessie Smith. The LFA's move is part of the larger Open the Doors Campaign, by the Federation of Post-Secondary Educa- tors of BC. According to the FPSE, the BC Lib- erals have cut per-student funding by 20 per cent and have increased tuition revenue by 400 per cent in the last 15 years. Filip Wiatrak, a second-year theatre production student at Langara, said he thinks managing work around a class schedule is difficult for students. “If we got assistance for our educa- tion so that we didn’t have to focus on money as much as we currently do, I believe a lot of students would feel a lot of weight lifted off their shoulders,” Wiatrak said. Andrew Wilkinson, minister of ad- vanced education, said in an email statement that the BC Liberals are committed to keeping post-secondary education affordable. “Students consistently tell me that they are pleased with the high quality of their education and feel that they are getting great value for their money,” Wilkinson said. However, NDP’s education critic Rob Fleming disagrees with how the government funds education. “T think British Columbia has de- clined in terms of its investments in post-secondary education under this government to an appalling state,” Fleming said. \| Put our money | where our minds are. Jessie Smith holds up an ad to be posted on transit starting Feb. 21. CHRISTOPHER THOROSKI PHOTO Suites nearby, pricey New building to house up to 330 students By DUNCAN ANDERSON nternational student housing is big I business for some investment com- panies in B.C. As part of its rapid expansion plan, an education and student-housing invest- ment company called CIBT Education Group Inc. will open a student resi- dence on the corner of Cambie Street and 60th Avenue in May. Toby Chu, president and CEO of CIBT, said that the cost per month for a private bedroom in a suite is about $1,000 depending on the location. “Our basic model is no more than two people per bathroom,” Chu said on Friday. That is a bit lower than similar pri- vate rooms in downtown Vancouver, which cost around $1,100 per month on Craigslist. “Supply and demand is our biggest disparity,” Chu said. “Right now we are looking at 20 to 30 inquiries to one available suite. It is becoming very com- petitive.” Jarod Kaplan, a film arts student at Langara, thinks $1,000 is “a bit steep” for one of the new accommodations on Cambie Street. “But it’s a nice area and so close to school, so I could see why somebody would be interested,” he said. CIBT currently houses over 7,000 students every year and advertises to more than 20,000 international stu- dents through its partnerships with schools such as Emily Carr University of Art + Design and through Sprott Shaw College, which they own. Valerie Peters, international educa- tion manager at Langara College, said her office was recently approached by CIBT, and that the college is in the process of determining how to make the housing information available to students. “We don’t want to be seen as endors- ing any one particular place for students to stay, and that is a challenge,” Peters said. She said the only accommoda- tion offered at Langara is through their homestay program, which costs $800 a month including meals. ‘The Cambie and 60th location is four blocks away from Marine Drive Sta- tion on the Canada Line. A new sta- tion could be built in the future at 57th Avenue.